Council Budget Consultation Webinar
Thursday 21st January at 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Join Councillor Shantanu Rajawat (Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services) to find more about the Local Authority’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and Council’s future financial plans. We are facing tough times and this is your opportunity as a business to have your say. This is one webinar you should not miss.

Cllr Rajawat will be joined by Soraya Lavery from CPG, business support advisor, and Ash Sanjenbam of Kingfisher Sec and also Woodnet Lifestyles Ltd, which was set up during the pandemic, supplying sanitiser stations and won Ash, Best Business of the Year 2019/20 at our recent Business Awards and Alan Rides, MD of Hounslow Chamber of Commerce and West London Local Chambers.
Covid-19: Health & Safety - Back to Basics Webinar
Monday 25th January at 11:00 am – 12:00 noon

Hounslow is now the sixth worst London borough for Covid-19, one in 30 of us Londoners has the disease. This second national lockdown has a very different feel to the first. We need to get back to the basics. Please come along to learn more about the mass vaccination programme in the borough, the asymptomatic testing initiative and to put your concerns to the panel, made up of:

  • Mel Bruneau - Health & Safety Director at Hounslow Chamber
  • Graham Bellamy - Senior Health & Safety officer at Hounslow Council
  • Representative from West Middlesex University Hospital
INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES PRESENT 5-POINT PLAN FOR COVID SURVIVAL

A group of independent business owners and representatives have come together to present
the government with a 5-point plan to save the high street and help indy businesses survive
the Covid-19 pandemic.

The group wants the government to use the £2.5 billion already returned by big names like
Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury’s to create an Independents’ Assistance Fund
which can help independent firms with rates, rent and making premises Covid-secure.
They also stress that local authorities have to engage more positively with the business
community, learning what they need and where the financial stresses are before they
introduce schemes and regulations.

Retail veteran Bill Grimsey said: “Everyone’s suffering in the pandemic but independent
businesses have been hit harder than most. People already operating on wafer-thin margins
simply can’t afford to lose trade on this scale as well as paying hefty business rates and
keeping up with rent arrears. They need help.”

The group’s plan consists of five points:
  1. Targeted and immediate financial assistance from the £2.5 billion fund
  2. Swift reduction in business rates leading to a review
  3. Government assistance with rent arrears
  4. Grants to future-proof premises against Covid-19 and other hazards
  5. Better consultation by local authorities with business

Retail Reflections CEO Andrew Busby said: “There are two challenges here: the first is to
get independent businesses through the current crisis, and that will need the government to
offer grants to sustain them; the second is to find ways for people to prepare for future
emergencies so that they can keep trading and keep making money.”

Nisa Retail Manager Richard Shorney added: “Businesses aren’t asking for a free ride; all
we want is some help to get us through Covid, so that we can keep trading, keep the
economy running and, most importantly, keep people in jobs. This would be money well
spent by the government.”

For further detail and comment from spokesmen, contact:
Eliot Wilson eliot@pivotpoint.group 07541 530503
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Health and Wellbeing

Webinars from PHE and The Society of Occupational Medicine on the health and wellbeing of your staff. Click here for more details.
November issue of Let's Talk Business out now
West London Local Chambers & Hounslow Chamber of Commerce are the primary support, networking, and representation organisation in west London for SMEs.

We support the interests, the commercial aspirations and the investment from businesses in Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham - the Chamber is the voice for all businesses located in the borough